On March 29, nearly a 150 people from across Kentucky and central Appalachia gathered in Harlan County for a community conversation with each other and with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, as part of the national listening tour of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

KFTC works for an open, healthy democracy and a high quality of life for all people. In recent days we witnessed some of the best examples of democratic participation and the worst examples of political manipulation. As legislators passed bills that undermine our democratic values and sense of basic fairness, Kentuckians stood up on the steps of the capitol and across the state to demonstrate the grassroots power at the heart of democracy.

As we move forward in this fight, it’s important that we stand together. We are working for a Kentucky that we haven’t yet achieved, where politicians don’t have the power to divide us. By being part of a movement that is inclusive and builds off the strength that we have when we work together, we can create such a Kentucky.

The KFTC Steering Committee met in Berea at the end of March to discuss the 2018 General Assembly session and KFTC’s organizing and Just Transition work in eastern Kentucky.

As the meeting was called to order, Steering Committee members revisited key questions that members asked during a leadership summit immediately following the 2016 elections: “what happened, why, and what’s next?” The Steering Committee revisited these same questions as they apply to the 2018 General Assembly session, emphasizing the longer term trajectory that lead to the legislative actions taken at the end of March.

All Kentuckians deserve access to food, shelter, education, and other basic needs.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (aka SNAP and formerly known as food stamps)is part of the Farm Bill, a piece of legislation reauthorized every five years. The bill also includes agriculture programs such as crop insurance and subsidies and rural development. The Farm Bill needs to be reauthorized by September 30, 2018.

KFTC's Executive Committee urges Kentuckians to create an inclusive movement by choosing not to play into harmful and divisive language.

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth works for an open, healthy democracy and a high quality of life for all people. We stand with teachers and public workers in the fight for a fair pension.

We understand the hurt and anger caused by Governor Bevin when he called Kentucky’s teachers and other public workers “selfish and short-sighted” and said they displayed a “thug mentality” when speaking out. He should apologize.

The word “thug” has a complicated history. It was used to disparage unions of working people throughout labor’s history. Over time, it’s meaning shifted and today, the word “thug” has racial undertones. It’s a word that causes hurt and pain for Black Kentuckians and other people of color.

That language seeks to divide us, and repeating it has unintended consequences.

I am a retired UMWA coal miner from western Kentucky and a KFTC member.

I worked underground for many years and very proud of that work. When I put on my bank clothes to go underground I did so secure in the knowledge that the benefits I was earning would be there for my wife and myself to survive during our retirement years. But now, thousands of retirees like me all across the coalfields will lose their pensions due to the 2008 financial crisis and coal company bankruptcies.

Right now is a key moment for a piece of legislation that would negatively impact Black and Brown young people in Kentucky.

House Bill 169, the "Youth Incarceration Bill," passed the House on March 15 and Senate leaders were quick to take parlimentary maneuvers to fast-track the bill for passage. Then on March 27, after compelling testimony on why and how the state could invest in programs to prevent gang violence, the Senate Judiciary Committee instead voted to pass HB 169 and support locking up more young people, and for longer.

This bill does not make Kentuckians safer, but it would cost taxpayers an additional $19 million a year, and lead to even higher levels of youth incarceration, especially among youth of color. The bill would:

Expand the definition of a gang membership.

Require more severe sentences and harsher charges for anyone who fits the newly expanded definition of gang membership, without judicial discretion.